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Is AB de Villiers a skipper shoo-in?

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skipper? The jury is out on whether stand-in SA test captain AB de Villiers should be appointed permanently   PHOTO: Carl Fourie / Gallo Images
skipper? The jury is out on whether stand-in SA test captain AB de Villiers should be appointed permanently PHOTO: Carl Fourie / Gallo Images

The new permanent South African cricket test captain to replace Hashim Amla will be appointed at a Cricket SA (CSA) executive council meeting in June, two months before the next test series against New Zealand.

This is what CSA media manager Altaaf Kazi told City Press’ sister publication, Rapport, this week.

“It will be the choice of the council to decide about the new captain – they will have to approve him,” said Kazi.

Amla sent shock waves through the sporting fraternity when he resigned as skipper after scoring 201 runs in the second test against England on Tuesday, a match that ended in a draw.

He was immediately replaced by AB de Villiers on a temporary basis.

The next test after the current series only takes place in August, so there is enough time to mull over who will be captain.

De Villiers’ leadership ability will come under the spotlight during the test that starts on Thursday at the Wanderers, as well as at the last outing in Centurion one week later, starting on January 22.

His credentials for the role of skipper bode well, given that he is already South Africa’s one-day international captain and a highly lauded batsman.

In addition, two cricket luminaries who spoke to Rapport agreed that he would make a good captain.

Dr Ali Bacher, one of the most successful captains in South African cricket history, whose team made a clean sweep of Bill Lawry’s Australian team in 1970, believed De Villiers’ enthusiasm and energy would benefit the team.

“AB plays inspiring cricket. His enthusiasm and energy for the game, and everything that goes with it, are unmatched,” said Bacher.

Another legend, Barry Richards, who was part of Bacher’s team against Australia, said De Villiers should be the first choice to lead the test team in the future.

“What is most important is that he wants to be captain. It is something he has always wanted to do and it makes a massive difference if you are eager to lead,” said Richards.

De Villiers has described his appointment as “the realisation of a lifelong dream”.

Richards also believed De Villiers would lead by example and his captaincy would not affect his batting negatively. “In fact, he is one of those players who will become even more inspired by the captaincy to perform better as a batsman.”

There is a school of thought, though, that De Villiers should not attempt to don the wicketkeeper gloves again.

Other candidates who will be considered are Francois “Faf” du Plessis, who captains the T20 team, along with JP Duminy and Dean Elgar.

Duminy is currently finding himself in the cold with regard to the test team, but it appears to be only a matter of time before he regains his batting edge, and then he cannot be left out of the team.

He has made it clear that he would welcome the opportunity to be the Proteas’ test skipper.

Elgar’s captaincy is yet to be tested, but he is generally viewed as someone with a sharp cricket brain who may get the chance in future to prove himself as a leader.

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